Library book support and index



Aug. 26 1924. I

H. c. SNODDY LIBRARY BOOK SUPPORT AND INDEX Filed Avril 30. 1923Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES HAYDEN c. SNODDY, or HOUSTON,

LIBRARY BOOK SUPPORT AND. INDEX.

Application filed. April 30, 19.23. Serial No. 635,512.

To. all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, HAYDEN O. SNoDDY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Houston, Harris County, Texas,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Library BookSupports and Indexesmf which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertain-s to make and use the same.

My invent-ion relates to a supporting device for library books, saidsupport having means thereon adapted to indicate the book which belongsadjacent the support.

It is common in libraries, both public and private, to arrange the booksby subject mat ter on the shelves and to label each book in its orderwith an identifying mark. The identifying marks are in sequence and yetadmitting of inserting intermediate numbers or characters when new booksare obtained. The shelves are not usually full, thus allowing theinserting of the new books. As a result, it is necessary to support thebooks, usually at the right end of the shelf, by means of a brick or ametal book support. l/Vhen books are taken out, the adjacent bookseither fall into the vacant space or the books may be shoved together tofill the space ori inally occupied by the book which was removed. Ineither case, it is not easy to tell whether a book has been removed orifso, what book it was. F urthermore, when it is desired to return thebook to its place it is necessary to closely note the labels on thebooks to be certain the book is replaced in its proper position. It isnot infrequently the case that books are put back in the wrong place andcannot therefore be easily found when looked for there after.

It is an object of my invention to provide a supporting device for eachbook having thereon a mark identical with that of the book which itsupports.

It is also an object to make such supports easily detachable andremovable as desired, and also capable of adjustment laterally along'theshelf to allow the insertion of new books and supports.

Another object is to provide a stop to be used on the support to limitthe distance the book may be moved inwardly on the shelf whereby thebooks may be retained easily in alignment.

These and other objects and advantages to the clamping rod; Fig. 3 is asimilar view showing the parts in different position; Flgs, sand 5 areviews of the clamping means illustrating the parts in loosened andclamping positions respectively; Figs. 7 and 8 are views of the stopused on the support, and Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the labelplate, approximately on the line 88 of Fig. 3.

In the use of my device I employ an ordinary book shelf 1 having uprightsupports 2 and 3 at the ends thereof. Between the two upright supportsand adjacent the rear upper end of the same, I employ a bar 4 which maybe made of angle iron, the object being to provide an angular supportwhich may be rotated to clamp the book support thereto. This bar isshown as made up of an angle iron, attached at each end to an operatinglever, 5. This lever, at its rearward end, is pivoted at 6, to the sidesupport and extends forwardly to the front I of the supporting member,where it is bent laterally to form a handle 7 on the forward side of thesupports 2 and 3 are latches, 8, over which the levers may be caught andsupported in clamping posit-ion.

On the clamping bar 4 thus provided I attach at spaced intervalssupporting rods 9. These rods may be made 'of a strip of flattened metalperforated atlOa-t the upper end, to engage within a loop 11 in aclamping member. The lower endof the rod 9 is twisted to a. position atright angles to that of the body of the bar, and hooked around the lowerend of the book shelf at-12. The flat portion 13 immediately above thehook 12 furnishes an attachment for a small plate 14', which is bentaround the rod and clamped thereto at 15, as shown in Fig. 8. The plate14 thus provided furnishes attachment for a label, as will be laterdescribed.

The clamp at the upper end of the rod 9 is formed of a length of springwire formed into a central loop passing through the openi g 10 and pjecting re ard y, and th nbent downwardly at 16 and re-curved upwardlyat 17 to a point even with the loop 11, and then forwardly at 18, anddownwardly again at 19, so as to; provide a space at 20 to it over theangle iron 4:. The angle iron is set ordinarily with the angle thereonapproximately forward and the two sides presented rearwardly. The rod 9will then rest upon the upper side of the angle iron and the clamp willfit loosely over the same. If then the levers 5 are rotated upwardly soas to turn the angle iron into the position shown in Fig. 5, the outeredge at 21 will engage the angle 18 of the clamping wire, and the angleof the iron will press against the arm of the rod 9, and thus tend topress the portion 18 of the wire resiliently toward the rear, and thusclamp the rod 9 firmly in position,and in doing so will tend to draw thesupporting rod tothe rear and engage the hook firmly against the forwardside of the shelf. This will support the rod rigidly in place atwhatever position along the shelf the rod happens to be,thus forming afirm lateral support for any book adjacent the said rod.

Upon the-rod 9 and slidable thereon is a stop member for the book. Thisstop is formed of a piece of spring wire bent so as to provide a lateralarm 22 against which the book may contact. The wire is then bentupwardly at 23 and rearwardly at 24, and then is bent down and re-curvedat 25 to form a loop, the. end of the wire being extended upwardly'toone side of the portion 24. A U-shaped band of metal adapted to fitclosely around the rod 9 is perforated on the two opposite sides, asshown at 26, to allow the wire to pass therethrough. This loop or yoke27 through which the spring passes is drawn tightly against the rod andclamped in position by forcing the upper end at 24 downwardly into theposition shown in Fig. 7. In that position the forward and rearwardsides of the stop member will rest against the side of the rod and-theupwardly-extending portion 28, which passes thru the yoke, will besprung against the upper end 24: and thus tend to holdthe yoke firmly inposition. It will be obvious that this stop may be loosened on the rod 9by forcing it upwardly into position shown in Fig. 6,and may be thenadjusted along the rod to the desired point, and then locked intoposition by forcing it downwardly in the position shown in Fig. 7.

In the use of my device the books will be arranged upon the shelf in thedesired order, each book having a label 29 thereon, in the usual manner.A supporting. rod 9 will be adjusted in position with the upper clampingend engaging over the angle iron 4, said angle iron being in loosenedposition, as

' shown 111 Fig. 3. The plate 14; on the lower end of the rod Will bethen provided with a label exactly similar to the label on the ad jacentbook. There will be between each of the adjacent books one of thesupporting rods, as shown, these rods being adjusted along the angleiron and shelf to fit tightly against the book; and the stop member 22will be adjusted to fit the width of the book and locked into position.Vhen all of the books have been properly placed uponthe shelf and thelabels arranged on the supporting rods 9 as desired, the levers 5 maybemoved upwardly. and caught above the latch member 8. In thus'moving'thelever, the angle ironwill be forced into the position shown in Fig. 5,thus clamping the rods 9 rigidly into position and supporting the books.When a book is removed from its position thus formed, the labelidentifying the book will remain in position so that when the book isreturned it will find an empty place into which the book will fitexactly and have a label like that of the book.

It will be noted that any number of books may be removed without in anyway affecting the support of the other books in their proper positions,and that when a book is to be replaced it will be very easy to ascertainexactly where the book belongs and to'place it easily in position,because of the spaced opening remaining forthe books. Also, when it isnecessary to add a new book upon the shelf, the rods 9 may beloosened bythe working of the lever 5 and.

new rods placed into position, and others moved laterally along theclamping bar.v

My device is therefore very flexible, easily adapted to all conditions,and enables the I,

one tending to the books .tokeep them in order.- It enables the readerto ascertain whether the book is out, and if a reader wishesto replace abook which he has taken, from the shelves, he can not easily'make amistake and get the book in the wrong position. Books, together withtheir supports, may be taken from one shelf and placed on another if thelibrarian desires, without difficulty. The further objects andadvantages of my invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art,without further description.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described,

a book shelf having an upright support at each end, an angle ironextending from one end to the other of said shelf adjacent the rearwardupper "side thereof, a lever on each support secured to said angle iron,a pivot pin on each lever adjacent said angle iron, flattened rodsextending from said angle iron diagonally downward to the forward sideof said shelf, means on the forward end of each rod to engage theshelfand means on the rearward end to engage said angle iron, and to beclamped thereto when the latter is rotated by means of said levers.

2. In a device of the character described, a book-shelf having uprightsupports at each end, an angle iron connected pivotally to said supportsadjacent the rearward upper sides thereof, means to rotate said angleiron, a series of flattened rods along said shelf, said rods having theforward ends hooked around the edge of said shelf, and a clamping meanson the rearward ends of said rods fitting over said angle iron andadapted to be clamped tightly thereto when said angle iron is rotated inone direction.

8. In a device of the character lescribed, a bookshelf having uprightsupports at each end, an angular bar connected pivotally to saidsupports adjacent the rearward upper sides of said supports, means torotate said bar, a series of flattened rods along said shelf, said rodshaving the forward ends hooked around said shelf, a label support onsaid hooked end, means at the rearward ends of said rods engaging saidbar and adapted to be clamped tightly thereto by the rotation of saidbar.

4. In a device of the character described, a book-shelf having lateralsupports at each end, an angular bar connecting said supports, means torotate said bar on its longitudinal axis, book-supporting rods having aforward end hooked to engage the front edge of said shelf, means on saidhooked end to support an identifying label, and a clamp at the rearwardend of said rod to engage said bar.

5. In a device of the character described, a book-shelf having endsupports, an angular bar between said supports adjacent the rear sidethereof, means to rotate said bar, a book-supporting rod having itsforward end hooked over the front edge of said shelf, a clamping meanson its rearward end adapted to fit loosely over said bar and to beclamped thereto when said bar is rotated.

6. In a device of the character described,

a book shelf, book-supporting rods hooked over the front of said shelfand adjustable along the same, rotatable means spaced above said shelfto support the rear ends of said rods, and means operated by therotation of said rotatablemeans to secure said rods rigidly thereto.

7. In a device of the character described, a book shelf, book-supportingrods hooked over the front of said shelf and adjustable along the same,supporting means spaced above said shelf to engage the rear ends of saidrods, means actuated by the rotation of said supporting means to securesaid rods rigidly thereto and stop members adjustable along said rodsfor the purpose described.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afliX my signature, this 2% day ofApril, A. D. 1923.

HAYDEN C. SNODDY.

